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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. file — a line of people
  4. clip — a video
  5. face — part of the head
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. ball — a great time
  9. rock — a stone
  10. ball — a dance
  11. face — to confront
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rock — music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. file — a document
  23. sharp — clever
  24. face — to point toward

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com